


Changing Lanes

by goodbothtimes



Series: Missed Calls [7]
Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-06
Updated: 2015-11-06
Packaged: 2018-04-30 07:13:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5154992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goodbothtimes/pseuds/goodbothtimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They make their way back to Link's house after the revelations on the hike.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changing Lanes

**Author's Note:**

> Trying to make the parts a bit shorter. But, that will likely mean faster updates. maybe.

He kept his face carefully neutral while Rhett continued to fiddle with the car stereo. He tried to ignore Rhett swapping it from station to station, starting and stopping his iTunes library. But he had been doing it for the past eight minutes, and it was starting to become more difficult for Link to not react badly. 

Rhett kept listening to a line or so of a song, letting it fill the car loudly before skipping to the next and then back searching the radio. Link also ignored him muttering to himself of it not being right, because that was preferable to the constant noise coming and going from the speakers.

They had taken a long time to get back to the car after they had told one another the depth of their feelings for each other, stopping every other minute to kiss or touch or just stare at each other, which had been lovely, and Link didn’t want to ruin the memory of today by yelling at Rhett to leave the fucking radio alone for god’s sake!

He stopped his hands from clenching. He kept his jaw relaxed, and counted slowly in his head, to ten and then fifty, glancing to the side mirror beside Rhett, indicating carefully and changing lanes for something to do. His eyes flicked to the passing scenery, all low tones, burnt orange bleeding into the skyline as the sun finished setting over the far horizon. Beautiful.

The track changed again abruptly.

He blinked, trying to shut out the dissonant sounds in the car.

“Uh, Rhett?” He said at last, as relaxed as he could manage. His head already pounding from the mismatch of noise.

“Hmm?” Rhett asked, skipping yet another song after three seconds of screeching guitar, maybe Jimi Hendrix, it wasn’t bad. It was just sudden and not long enough to be anything but loud noise.

“How about, if you just leave that for now?” 

“But I wanna play something cool. It’s a significant drive, don’t you think? I mean, shouldn’t the soundtrack match?” 

Good gracious.

“Sure. Yeah, it is. I mean. Sure. But.” he risked glancing at his best friend, hoping the other man wouldn’t read the annoyance on his face. “Uh. It might be um, cooler...if you just left it to play anything right through. The four seconds of everything in your library is...starting to be less, uh, cool than you might think.” 

“Oh.” He sat back and looked at Link carefully. “Have I been pissing you off?” 

Link internally smirked, but kept his face relaxed, his eyebrow twitching a little, but otherwise perfectly calm.

“No, no, Rhett.” He reached over and touched his arm briefly, smiling at him “You’re fine. It’s just that it could get annoying fairly soon, ya know?” 

He glanced in the left side mirror and moved back into the original lane they had been in. The traffic was flowing fairly smoothly, but he kept his attention focused as much as he could on driving and not on the coming evening.

“I’m a bit nervous I think.” 

Link smiled genuinely. “Don’t be nervous, honey. It’s just you and me.” 

“Aren’t you kinda nervous?” 

“Nope,” he lied smoothly. Glanced over at Rhett’s strained face. “Ok, I am a little bit. But. I am mostly not. I’ll be gentle.” 

Rhett looked across at Link, smiling at his confidence and obvious enjoyment of the dynamics of their situation.

“This time,” he added conversationally, indicating right again. “You, of course, will do as you’re told. I have nothing to be nervous about.” his foot easing off the gas as the cars in front began to slow. “And you have nothing to worry about either. As you well know.”

“I’ve never...you know...” Rhett trailed off awkwardly.

“The first step is admitting you have a problem.” Link smiled again. “Maybe, by the time we get home you can say it out loud.” 

“Hi, my name’s Rhett. And, uh. you know…” 

Both men laughed quietly, before falling into silence focusing on the traffic ahead that was no longer flowing very smoothly at all.

Link glanced into the rear vision mirror. Fortunately the cars following seemed to be paying attention as well.

“My name is Rhett, and I uh, I have er, never been in a motor vehicle accident involving a rear collision,” he sat back, before adding, “No officer, that was not the rear-ending I was planning on tonight. He just came outta nowhere.” 

Link sniggered. “The level of maturity in this car is really quite astounding.” 

“It’s inspiring really.” 

“Is that what you want?” Link asked as he again changed lanes to avoid a large truck in front of them that was travelling well below the speed limit.

“Maturity?” 

Link grinned, “No.” 

Rhett looked at him blankly, trying to remember what he had been saying.

Link mentally counted again. “Anal sex, Rhett.” 

Rhett’s eyes widened alarmingly. “Oh, woah. Gosh,” he looked around quickly, without knowing why. Who did he think would have overheard?

“Too soon to use the A word?” Link asked, checking the mirrors again.

Rhett opened the glove box and started rummaging for only he knew what, avoiding looking at Link and then closed it before biting his nails slightly on his left hand.

“Uh, no. I do want to...uh…” 

“We don’t have to, you know. We can just go with the flow a bit, huh?” said Link to the side of Rhett’s head.

“Don’t you want to?” he asked looking over at Link.

“Of course I do. But there are a lot of things I wanna do. I’m in no rush.” 

“But, if I really want to, you will?” 

“Yes. If that is what you want, yes.”

“What do you want?”

“All of you.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“You’ll see.” 

They sat quietly again for a while, listening to the ambient sounds of their car in the stream of traffic, lulling them quietly, Rhett watching the patterns from the street lights rush up the car, part way across the front seat and up Link’s chest before rushing out the side window, being chased by another and another before Rhett broke the silence again.

“You’re pretty relaxed about sex and sexuality and talking about this stuff I guess.” 

“Yes, I am. Not relaxed about much else, but that, yeah with the right audience. It’s really important, you know. In some situations. Clear communication.”

“How many people have you had sex with?” 

“When?”

“Like, in your life.”

Link looked at him a long moment, finally realising he was being serious, and not trying to be funny.

“I have no idea.” he said at last.

“That many?” 

“Well. No,” although that was somewhat true, “It’s more, that I don’t keep count. I’m not a child collecting conquests. And, I don’t know what would even count according to your definition of sex.” 

“Ok.” Rhett turned towards him so he could watch his face, “In the past month how many individuals have you made come.”

“This is a stupid conversation, Rhett.” he replied quickly, glancing out the side window, wishing he was out there not stuck in the car with Rhett’s judgement.

“Ask me,” Rhett said quietly.

“I don’t care, Rhett.” 

“Ask me!” his temper flaring.

“Ok.” his knuckles white on the steering wheel. “In the past month, how many people have you made come?” 

“One.” 

Link took a deep breath, glancing out his side window again.

“You,” Rhett added, his tone more an accusation than a loving declaration.

“Rhett.” he started.

“Don’t. It’s alright. That was a dumb question.”

“Yeah. It was.” 

The heaviness was back, but now Link was angry whereas before he had been calm. He had respected that Rhett had some right to question him about his life and had not felt defensive. He wasn’t doing anything wrong. But, Rhett implying he should be ashamed because of the number of people he had or hadn’t slept with was a whole other thing.

“Rhett.” he said evenly.

“Don’t. Link. Just forget about it. I was being childish.”

“You need to understand that I am not and nor are you going to make me ashamed of what I have done. Ok? Or what I will do in future for that matter. You’re not gonna guilt trip me, or imply that I am less of a person than you because of the experiences I have or haven’t had. That’s just bullshit, ok?”

Rhett remained quiet, regretting he had spoken out. But he hated that Link couldn’t give him a number, or wouldn’t. He hated that the reality was Link really didn’t know the answer.

They drove the remainder of the way in silence until Link flicked on the radio, turning it up just past the point of where conversation would be difficult, ensuring it would be impossible. He concentrated on not paying attention to the man beside him, and Rhett worked hard on doing the same.

They pulled into Link’s driveway about twenty minutes later, and he stopped outside the garage, getting out of the car, closing the door firmly before marching around the car and opening Rhett’s door.

“Come on.” he said, commanding and impatient.

Rhett stood slowly and waited beside the car for Link to lead them up the path to the front door.

He let them in, throwing his keys into the bowl by the door along with his wallet that held his bank cards.

“I’m gonna have a shower. You want a drink?” 

“Ah. Yeah.” Rhett followed him further into the house. “I can get it.”

“Ok, good. Help yourself to whatever. Get me a beer will you. I won’t be long.” 

Rhett moved into the kitchen, watching the other man head down the hallway and disappear into the bathroom. Wondering if he should follow him. But what he would say if he did. Did he even have any right to be here? Was Link right that he should not be in love with him? Was his life one that Rhett could even be a part of?

But he had meant what he had said on the track, and he had seen how Link felt about him. This was all just stuff. It wasn’t what really mattered. Was it?

He opened the fridge door and stood staring into it, lost in his thoughts a while until it beeped at him loudly for being open too long. He shut it quickly, not wanting Link to hear him willfully misusing his fridge, before opening it again quickly and grabbing two beers, opening them both and carried his with him as he walked into the living room, glancing over at the large couch they had shared the week before. Smiling when he remembered Link’s whispered words of “Slowly, Rhett. Patience. I have waited so long for this…” 

He took a long drink and kept strolling about, paying attention to the decor, the odd bits and bobs Link had decorated the room with. He had been here many times, of course, but had never really taken much notice of what Link chose to display of his life, of his interests and passions.

He looked around at the few photo frames he had around the room. The thing that stood out the most was that almost all of them had photos of the two of them, some with Rhett on his own and some of Link’s family in North Carolina. A group shot of Link with some of his friends he went mountain biking with fairly regularly, his arm around a shorter man Rhett hadn’t met before. He had never realised how many photos Link had on display and as he walked along the hallways towards the other bedrooms and study, there were even more lining the walls.

None overly large or obnoxious, just scenic shots of the two of them on this trip or that. Of a shoot, they had done. A celebration they had attended together. A promo shot from the last streamy awards show.

But on his desk in his study there were another two photos. Rhett left the door wide open, feeling like he was invading Link’s privacy somewhat, but the door had been open already, and he had been in here with Link before. Admittedly normally on the other side of the desk.

One of the photos, in a heavy wooden frame, was of Rhett when he was probably around ten years old by the looks of it. Sitting on the front steps of Link’s Mom’s house. With baggy shorts and an oversized t-shirt on, large hi-top sneakers on, a shy grin on his face, his eyes staring into the camera. Link was taking the photograph, his own silhouette stretching across the lawn towards Rhett’s feet.

He sat down heavily in Link’s office chair, keeping an ear out for the sounds of the shower stopping. He remembered the day that the photo was taken. He remembered that t-shirt and that shy smile on his face. He remembered what he had been thinking at the time. 

Link had asked him if he could take his picture. Rhett had told him he thought he was funny looking, and why would he want a photo of him. Link had told him that he needed to finish the roll and he was his bestest friend ever and he wasn’t funny looking really. That he had really nice eyes, and his laugh was beautiful. That all the girls secretly liked him but were too scared to ask out such a tall dude. He hadn’t been able to stop grinning at Link for the remainder of the day, even through Link had blushed bright red every time he had.

The other photo was a very recent one of the two of them. Shirtless and grinning at the camera. It had been taken by someone on their crew with Link’s phone as a bit of a joke after they had stripped off their soiled shirts. Link had ‘spontaneously’ put his arm around him, pulling him close to his side, his other hand resting casually on Rhett’s bare stomach, hardly smiling at all but winking to the camera. Rhett had been surprised, but his initial relaxed smile had been captured before he had gently moved Link away from him and they had gone about their day without further comment. 

Link had obviously taken the time to edit it to cut out the mess that had been surrounding them and had printed it out, framed it and had it on his desk next to his monitor. Rhett picked it up and studied them both closely.

Link looked relaxed, happy. Pleased with himself. His pose and his hand resting on Rhett’s stomach implied a level of intimacy between them, or familiarity. The small smile and wink one of affirmation, not cheekiness. And he had looked slightly surprised, but happy and proud. He couldn’t quite remember if he had been proud of their accomplishments of the day, or the touch of his best friend or a combination.

Looking at them both he can see that they fit together. Complemented one another. But Rhett didn’t need to try and figure out if he wanted him. Loved him. He needed to know if he could love him as Link wanted to be loved, and if Link could give him what he needed too.

When he thought about it objectively, he had no doubt. He wasn’t naive. He didn’t need to be attached at the hip to his partner. Never had. Had been in a couple of relationships that had been relaxed and open without any significant drama. And realised it was unrealistic and childish expect Link to be some kind of virgin at thirty-seven.

But when he thought of Link with other people, he felt jealous. Scared and angry, in a way he had never experienced before. Not only jealous of other people being with him, and Link sharing himself with them. But that he himself had never experienced those things with him and might not. Ever. Some people would do things with Link, that Link wanted, and craved, that he himself would not be able to bring himself to do. And how could he live up to any of that? Live with any of that?

“Do you want to take a shower?” Link asked quietly, leaning against the door frame, watching Rhett at his desk, the photo frame still in his hand.

He jumped in the chair and hastily put the photo back where it had been. “I’m sorry, Link. I wasn’t prying. I was just…” 

“Shh.” Link walked into the room and kissed his forehead gently. “You’re my best friend, Rhett. You can nosy about as much as you like. You’ve been there when I got most of everything that’s in this house, anyway.” 

Link was now all in black, smelling clean and fresh. Jeans and a button down shirt. His hair, still wet swept back on his head, his glasses in place. He looked calm again, in control. Rhett smiled, slipping his arms around his waist, pulling him against him and resting his head on his stomach.

“I forgot about that photo of us.” he said caressing Link’s bare chest in the frame.

“Hmm. I like it.” His hand moved to the back of Rhett’s neck, heavy and warm. “You felt nice against me. Clammy and hot. Breathing heavily from the silliness of the shoot. I figured I’d get away with a quick hug. I didn’t realise Eddie had taken the photo at such a great time until a few days later. Scrolling aimlessly and then, bam! There you were.” 

He bent and kissed the top of his head.

“I’m gonna order some food because I don’t feel like having to take you to the hospital with food poisoning tonight. Do you have a preference? Food wise.” 

“Why don’t we just grab a pizza? We can be healthy another day.”

“Sounds good. You have some clothes here you know?” 

“I do?”

“Yeah. You’re always leaving crap at my house. Third drawer down in the large dresser. There're a couple of shirts in my wardrobe too. Far far left. Get clean, I’ll order food.”


End file.
